We have been here a week and a half and are settling into a routine. Even in Paradise, there are still chores.  Here are a few of ours:

• Work –  I am working remotely from here.   I have my office set up in the guest bedroom, where I have my most-used regs (HIPAA, wellness, claims) with me.  I do have to move to the bedroom for conference calls because the reception is better.  I have already had 10 calls since we’ve come, so things seem to be working out.  You never know when you set up shop in a foreign country, so I’m greatly relieved.

• Water – We have been warned that the water may contain parasites. We had to get all kinds of vaccines and were told to only drink bottled water (no ice cubes even).  We have these huge 5 gallon containers set up, so one of our chores is to keep up with them and periodically switch them out – which sounds easier than it is!  This involves taking the top off and turning it over as quickly as you can to go on top of the base before water spills out – definitely a two-man job.

• Vegetables – And since the water is unreliable, we have the quandary of how to wash vegetables. The guidebook warns to not eat any salads or vegetables with skins because they have been washed in tainted water.  We do have a purification system at the house, so should be ok, but we still want to be careful.  So Frank – ever the rocket scientist – has developed a system.  We thoroughly wash vegetables in sink water (purified so should be ok) – then we soak them in a mixture of water and iodine, which is supposed to further cleanse them.  We have two drawers in the refrigerator – one for “dirty” vegetables and one for “clean.”  Pretty ingenious!